Part One

Kai's cryopod lid opened and he awoke, instantly alert as always when he was called from cryosleep. But this time, when he opened his eyes, he didnot see the walls of the cold, foggy chamber that constituted his home. Instead, he found himself looking out on a wide expanse of twilit plain, bounded on the far horizon by a wall of jagged hills. He quickly stepped out and looked around. True enough, his cryopod stood alone on the plain. He was no longer on the Lexx, and it was nowhere in sight.

He eased his brace to the ready, and walked slowly toward a small clump of trees nearby. There was nothing to see here, and there might be something there to tell him why he was here on this planet, apparently all alone. 

But he was not alone. A figure stepped out from the trees and began to approach him. In the dim light, the figure was hard to make out. Kae let the brace drop into his hand and stopped, waiting. 

The figure came closer. If he had been able to feel such a thing as surprise, Kai would have been surprised. The figure approaching him looked like a carbon copy of himself, a man in black clothing with the same elaborate Brunnen-G hairstyle as his own. As the man came closer and stopped in front of him, Kai stared into the mirror image of his own face. 

"Who are you?" he asked.

The man smiled. "Don't you know me?" 

Kai looked him up and down. There *were* differences. The man's clothing seemed to be made of some soft, silky material, an inky black tunic and trousers. His feet were encased in soft leather shoes, but his trouser legs hung loose over the tops. Kai stared into his face and saw there something softer than he imagined --- if he could imagine --- his own face to show: he supposed tthis must be "life". 

"No," he said. "I do not know you." 

"I am your brother," the man said. "Or more correctly, I am your son."

"I ... have no son." 

"Well," the man smiled and shrugged a little, casting his gaze down and to the side in a characteristic gesture Kai knew to be his own. "Not technically," the man said. "I have been cloned from your DNA." 

"My body is decarbonized. How is that possible?" 

"I don't understand the technology exactly. Suffice to say that I *am* your clone. Someone took a sample of your DNA while you were on the Planet of the Chocolate Fed Women. You remember being there, don't you?"

"Yes," Kai said slowly, frowning in thought. "I was captured and put into a laboratory of some kind. But the memory is vague." 

"They did not want you to remember too much, for your own peace of mind. The Mistress Micromary wanted to bring you to life. Sadly, it did not work fully, and you have reverted. But she took a small sample from you. She had a very difficult time with it. The sample insisted on being reunited with you. Still, she was able to control it and perfect the cloning process. I am not the only one. You have many, many sons."

Kai thought for a moment, his gaze directed at the ground. "Where are these ... sons? Am I to meet them?"

The man laughed --- another would-be surprise, the sound of his own laughter as he remembered it, coming from the throat of this stranger.

"No," the man said, "you will not meet them all. But my queen has sent me to tell you some things. She feels you need to know of us, and that you need some instructions in the art of ..." 

"Yes?" Kai was intrigued, in spite of himself. 

"Well, time enough for that. Come. We will sit at ease. I have much to tell you."
 

Part Two

"My name is MyKai," the man said, as he and Kai lounged on flat stones beside a still, small lake in the midst of the tiny copse of trees. The sky filled with the golden and pink and orange glow of a sun that was no longer quite visible above the horizon. The glassy water reflected the glow, so that everything was tinged with color and shadow.

"That was the name my queen gave me in your honor," MyKai went on. "It's a very possessive name, but she has given me my freedom. I chose to stay with her, as I am a clone after all, programmed in the things I am about to reveal to you. But I can come and go as I see fit." 

"You are her assassin?" Kai was still inspecting this stranger suspiciously.  He noticed a scent coming from the man's clothes, a spicy scent strongly reminiscent of --- something he remembered. Chocolate? Was that the correct word? 

MyKai laughed, a clear sound rebounding across the water. "Assassin?  No. No more than you. I am a fantasy. There is a great need in the world for fantasy and romance, and we were created to fulfill that." 

Kai looked away, toward the glowing sky now fading to lavender. Stars were beginning to appear, and a small breeze rippled their light in the water below. 

"I do not remember romance," he said. "The dead cannot fantasize." 

"Of course not," MyKai said, smiling. "But that is what I'm here to teach you."
 

Part Three

"You must remember love," MyKai said to Kai. Night was closing in, but the stars were filling up the sky, even as a small afterglow of the sun lingered along the horizon. 

"I ... I have many memories."

"Ah, yes, so many memories. A pity I cannot share them all, but then, I have only the memories I was given at my birth, and the ones that I have stored in my time with my queen since. I am far more fortunate than you.  My memories are mostly very pleasant."

"Mine are not." 

MyKai looked sad. "Yes. But together we will overcome that." 

"There is no need," Kai said. 

MyKai frowned. "I disagree. There is a very great need. It may not be *your* need, but it must be fulfilled, and only you can do it."

Kai sat silent for a while, thinking this over. In the gathering darkness, he and MyKai were pale glimmers. "I don't understand," he said at last. 

MyKai merely smiled, and turning, waved his hand over the expanse of water before them. The scene shifted in a swirl of star-filled darkness which grew brighter and brighter, until suddenly, they were facing a new vista, a vast expanse of green meadow in broad daylight.

"First," he said, "We must begin with chocolate."
 

Part Four

At the far side of the meadow, against a backdrop of darkling woods, stood the massive and magnificent fortress of APEC. The high wooden gates stood open, and on the grassy area in front, a crowd of young men were kicking a soccer ball back and forth, talking and laughing among themselves.

"This is the sanctum of the APEC," MyKai said. "It is here that your instruction will proceed." 

With a shock, Kai realized that the young men were all copies of himself.  They wore various modes of dress: some in the black silk jumpsuits they had been issued in the cloning lab, some in unfamiliar shirts and trousers, some shirtless, and at least one wearing nothing but a purple thong. Kai saw that their bodies were free of the hideous fixtures of His Divine Shadow, which meant that they were alive as MyKai was. Most wore their hair in the elaborate Brunnen-G bun and braid, but there were one or two whose hair was loose and flowing. Though Kai himself could not have told them apart, they seemed to distinguish among themselves with ease. 

"Are these ... my sons?" Kai asked. 

"All of them. But come. We have more important matters to attend to."

MyKai led the way across the meadow, past the young men who paid them no mind, and past the fortress, down to a riverbank where there stood a giant stone pavilion by the flowing water. There were many women here, lounging on cushions strewn about the pavilion floor and on stone benches, among an array of small tables set with flagons of wine and silver plates heaped with various kinds of fruit and cheeses. The women were relaxed and happy, chatting among themselves, sunning or drying themselves after a swim in the river. 

"This is the Chocolate Pavilion," MyKai said. "These are the women of APEC." 

"I remember them," Kai said. "But I do not remember why."

"Hello, MyKai," said Fields-of-Heather, looking up from the pile of cushions where she had spread her vines to dry. 

The other women glanced over and sang a chorus of hello's. No one seemed to notice that Kai was not just another clone. 

MyKai motioned for Kai to sit. "They're distracted," he whispered. "Give them a moment."

MyKai stepped over to a table where there was a large white box with gold lettering on the lid. Carefully, he removed the lid and began to set out the contents of the box, an act which immediately attracted the attention of the women. They began to gather around him, curious. MyKai arranged plates and set out slices of chocolate-Irish cream cheesecake, handfuls of chocolate ribbon cookies, piles of maple-cream bon-bons, stacks of Decadent Dark chocolate fudge, and more, all from the seemingly bottomless reaches of the mysterious box. 

"What are you doing, MyKai?" asked FoxxyMulder, peeking over his shoulder. 

"Yes, is that chocolate?" asked FrogSplash, coming close. 

"Ladies," MyKai said, "you are about to be given the opportunity to demonstrate the power of chocolate to the central figure of the Chocolate Tradition." 

EveningStar gasped. "Wait. Are you ... Kai?" 

Kai realized they were all looking at him suddenly. 

"*The* Kai?" asked ghiapet. 

"Yes," he said in a puzzled voice. "I am Kai. Last of the Brunnen-G."
 
 

Part Five

The women were silent, except for a faint rustle of whispers among themselves. Kai looked back at them uncomfortably, pinned as he was in their gaze. Finally, one of them stepped forward shyly. ********** "My name is Strytlr. May I be the first to instruct you?" 

"Instruct me?"

She seemed surprised. "In the art of chocolate." 

"Y-yes," Kai said, uncertain what he was agreeing to. 

She knelt beside him and took his hands in hers. Turning each one up, she pressed her lips to the palms, and then she took a small silver plate from the table. On it was a slice of chocolate-cherry brandy cake. She pinched off a small piece and put it to his lips. Startled, Kai opened his mouth and it slid in. Something ... a sensation, a taste like nothing he had ever tasted before ... filled his senses, overwhelming his trepidation. Involuntarily, he closed his eyes.

"Now," MyKai whispered in his ear, "you must give *her* a taste." 

Mimicking what Strytlr had done to him, Kai placed a small bit of the cake on her tongue. She closed her eyes and swallowed, swaying with delight.  Then she stood up, leaned toward him, and pressed her lips to his. He felt an electric thrill run down his spine, suffusing his whole body, and with that, a small bit of knowledge passed from Strytlr to him. 

One by one, each of the women came forward and repeated the ritual:  Rustam, Kaigazer, doffy, Starherd, Scartissue, Trillian, Elfwina, Wycker, Kali56, many, many more. VisionAri fluttered down from her perch atop the Chocolate Pavilion, Vigdis shyly slid out from behind a marble column, and even the great Micromary herself stepped out from the inner room where she had been contemplating the mysteries of science. Each one came forward to perform the Chocolate Ritual, each with a different flavor that miraculously tasted new, and each ended with The Kiss. And each one left him with a little piece of herself, a tiny sparkling glow of what he now understood was "romance". It was the sharing, he realized, of the innermost desire for true love, something that rarely can be completely satisfied by mere physical acts. With this realization came the memory. 

He was back on Brunnis2, alive, lying in the arms of his beloved, in the sweet-scented secret bower where they often met. She was kissing his face and throat, caressing his body, murmuring to him, and he was doing the same to her, with sweet hunger. They came together, their bodies afire with the intense want of each other, and together they were lost in a swirl of darkness more sorrowful and more joyful than either had ever known. It was his first time with her, the time that is forever remembered through lifetimes, and beyond death. 

And then each woman of APEC had passed by, leaving Kai weak and disoriented on the stone bench. MyKai put his hand on Kai's shoulder, and for once, Kai did not feel threatened by the touch of a stranger.

"Do you understand now?" MyKai asked. 

Kai kept his eyes closed, savoring the taste of chocolate, and the women's lips, and the unbearably beautiful memory. 

"Yes," he said, his voice cracking. "I think ... I *think* ... I do."
 

Part Six

When Kai opened his eyes again, he was no longer seated on the stone bench outside the Chocolate Pavilion. It was dark night again, and he was looking at the glassy waters of the little lake, surrounded by the gloom of the trees. Overhead, small moons chased each other across the sky. 

"MyKai?" he called. 

"When you are back on the Lexx," MyKai's voice said beside him, "you must remember what you have learned. One awaits you there who makes great demands of you that go unfulfilled. Some..." MyKai's voice filled with regret, "you may never be able to satisfy. But the need for fantasy and romance never goes away, and it demands attention. You must be ready." 

He placed something in Kai's hands. In the darkness, Kai could barely make out the small white box, but he was sure there was gold lettering on it.

"I cannot," he said. "I cannot." 

"You don't yet know that," MyKai answered. "At least now you can make the effort." 

Kai was silent. 

"What of my sons?" he asked finally. 

"You will meet them again. That is another story."
 

Part Seven

MyKai stood watching the distant sliver of light that was the Lexx, fading from the night sky, taking Kai and his companions away to continue their long journey. Another figure joined him in the darkness. 

"How did it go?" 

"My queen," MyKai said in a very satisfied voice, "only time will tell."